The Nervous System
- A stimulus is a change in the environment that you may need to react to.
- We have five sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. They all contain different receptors which are groups of cells sensitive to a stimulus.
- They change stimulus energy to an electrical impulse.
- A stimulus can be light, sound, taste, temperature etc.
- Path of a neurone response:
- stimulus (change in environment) à receptor (cells that detect the change) à sensory neurone à relay neurone à motor neurone à effector muscle à response
The response
- When a stimulus is detected, the information is sent in the form of electrical impulses along the sensory neurones to the central nervous system (CNS).
- The CNS is the brain and the spinal cord.
- CNS coordinates the response.
- The CNS then sends information to an effector along a motor neurone. The effector responds accordingly.
Effectors
- Muscles and glands are the effectors and they respond in different ways.
- Muscles contract in response to a nervous impulse whereas glands secrete substances as a response.
Sensory neurones
- Long Dendrons and short axons carry nerve impulses from the receptors in the sense organs to the CNS.
Motor Neurones
- Many short dendrons and one long axon to carry nerve impulses from the CNS to the effectors.
Relay Neurones
- Many short dendrons and axons carry nerve impulses from sensory neurones to motor neurones.